LGBTQ-themed Kids' Book: Mara and the Bad Wolf

Update: We've raised 75% of the cost of illustrations - we only need $2,000 more! The illustrations are complete and the next phase of publication will begin soon.

Congratulations to the winners of the March Contest: Pamela Melvaine and Genowefa Ciborowska, who have each won a beautiful print illustration of their choosing!

Hello!

I'm K Kampeas-Rittenhouse, a writer raising funds to illustrate and publish my first children's book, an LGBTQ-themed children's book entitled Mara and the Bad Wolf.

Thank you for considering donating to this project! Info below, or if you prefer, you can watch this short and silly video I made about the book (don't miss my impression of a New York City rat!).

What's The Book About?

The story follows Mara the fox on the weekend of her eleventh birthday as she accompanies a rebellious trans teen wolf named Seth to a mysterious and magical island where time and space seem to have their own rules.

Mara quickly ends up lost and alone, on a journey that forces her to confront powerful emotions and unlock an important part of herself. Along the way, she meets a variety of colourful queer characters, including a tree frog with a terrible sense of humour and an unbothered crocodile-alligator lesbian couple. Themes of gender fluidity, anger and autonomy are explored throughout the book.

As a gender-fluid writer, I'm excited to offer kids a story that shows how fun and mysterious exploring gender can be and how it can connect to other ways of getting to know ourselves.

I've always loved children's books, particularly ones that were funny, magical, and beautifully illustrated. I still own and cherish books from my childhood that feel like works of art, and it was important to me to find an illustrator who could bring this story to life with colourful, detailed imagery.

Which is why I'm thrilled to be collaborating with Kamila Wojciechowicz—as you can see from her portfolio and the above illustrations, Kamila is phenomenally talented.

Here's a short excerpt from the book to give you a taste: [Mara and Seth have just arrived on the island, and Seth is looking for directions.]

Seth walked over to a turtle who was sitting at a small table a little ways away, drinking a martini and reading a large, leather-bound book.

“How do you get to the Valley?” he asked the turtle.

The turtle looked up with a bored expression. He wore thick-rimmed tortoise-shell glasses and a white bow tie with pink polka dots.

"You know the rules,” he drawled.

“What rules?” Mara asked.

The turtle slowly and disdainfully raised one eyebrow and said: “I see the kit has no understanding of this place.”

“I’m not a kit!” Mara exclaimed indignantly. “I’ll be eleven tomorrow.”

The turtle snorted.

“Pert as a prince, this one,” he said, before turning back to Seth. “To get something, one must give something. What are you prepared to give?”

“The bike,” the wolf said quickly.

“WHAT?!” Mara yelped.

“Don’t worry, you’ll get it back,” Seth said. He looked at the turtle. “If I bring you something from the Valley, the bike’s ours again, right?”

The turtle considered this for a long moment.

“I might be persuaded to exchange it for a certain rare, purple-spotted mushroom.”

Seth sighed.

“Fine.”

Mara crossed her front paws and glared as the turtle patted the handlebars of her bicycle. She couldn’t imagine what he wanted with it—he certainly wouldn’t fit on the seat!

“You do not find the Valley, it finds you,” the turtle intoned, as though reciting a very dull poem. He gestured to a small gap in the woods. “Follow that path until it becomes another. What goes down must rise up. There are no shortcuts, only breakthroughs. If you find yourself at the Cave of Many Doors, the only way through is within. And lastly,” he said wearily, “if you come to a fork in the road, try not to make the obvious choice.”

At that moment, a small, pink-and-turquoise bird flew over their heads and loudly squawked “Don’t make the obvious choice!”

What Will These Funds Pay For?

The majority of the funds will go towards illustrating the book, which will take roughly 6 months. The remainder will go towards covering the costs of self-publishing or hybrid publishing. If I am offered and accept a traditional publishing contract, the remaining portion will be reallocated to cover additional illustrations (including a $1,200 cover) and marketing costs.

Cost Breakdown:

$8,300 —> 22 full-colour illustrations (to be completed by April 2023)

$4,700 —> hybrid publishing or self-publishing costs and cover & marketing costs

A note on publishing options: Currently, I've received an offer from a UK publisher for a hybrid contract, which requires the author to cover a portion of the publishing fees. The publisher has indicated that they could offer me a traditional contract once the illustrations are complete. Both options require me to commission the illustrations directly from the artist at my own expense—these costs are likewise not covered by available literary/arts grants.

Contracts with traditional publishers can come with downsides like extremely long wait times for publication, low royalty percentages, and restrictions around translation and distribution. For these reasons, I may decide to self-publish.

What Do Donors Receive?

Donations of any size are much appreciated!

Starting in 2023, those who donate $100 or more will receive an 8" X8" or 8"X10" print of one of a selection of illustrations (you will be emailed to select which print you want). Please check out the available illustrations on Mara's Facebook page.

More About Me As a Writer

My writing has appeared in The Toast as well as cléo: a journal of film and feminism, where I was a senior editor from 2015-2020. I have an honours certificate in creative writing from the University of Toronto School of Continuing Education, where my final thesis project was shortlisted for the 2019 Marina Nemat Award.